The Coffee Shop
by sarahlou82
Summary: Greg has a chance meeting with someone in a coffee shop. Greg/OC. Please R&R!
1. Chapter 1

Title: The Coffee Shop  
Pairing: Greg/OC  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: None of this is true. And I own none of the characters. Not one of them. (Unfortunately!)

A/N: Another fic I wrote a while back & forgot about!

* * *

Greg wearily wound his way through the busy pedestrian traffic between his car and the coffee shop. He had worked overtime on his previous shift and had slept poorly afterwards. He knew exactly what would perk him up, a great big steaming mug of his favourite coffee. Unfortunately he had finished the pack off the previous day, so was now in dire need of his caffeine hit. He walked through the door of Java Joe's and the warming smell of coffee percolating filled his nostrils and warmed him to the core. The past week had been unusually chilly for early autumn in Las Vegas, so he was especially grateful for the warming sensation he felt upon entering the shop. He waved to the owner, Joe, stood behind the counter and headed over to his favourite place in the shop, the shelf where his beloved Hawaiian Blue was stored. To his surprise there was only one packet left on the shelf, he obviously was not the only local with expensive taste in coffee! He reached his hand out to pick up the final packet, completely oblivious to the woman next to him reaching out to do exactly the same. Their hands brushed lightly against each other as they both gripped the packet, sending minor shockwaves up both of their arms. They turned to face each other as their brains registered the presence of the other. "Oh, sorry!" They exclaimed simultaneously. "You take it." They chorused as they both let go of the packet, which seemed to fall to the floor in slow-motion, slowly turning over and over as it fell. The sound of coffee beans spilling on the floor broke them both out of their reverie. They simultaneously bent down to scoop up the freed coffee beans, their heads colliding as they leant over. "Ouch!" They both exclaimed as they stood upright, before simultaneously bursting into laughter as the hilarity of their situation hit them.

Joe stepped out from behind his counter to inspect the damage. "You crazy youngsters, what do you do to my shop huh? Look, beans everywhere, now I have to clean!" He smiled as he spoke, Joe could never be mad at his two favourite customers; they both spent far too much money in his shop for that. He disappeared behind the counter and returned seconds later with a brush and dustpan. "You two sit down, Lola will bring you coffee, on the house for my favourite two customers." Greg and the woman sat down at the nearest table, still rubbing their banged heads, while Joe knelt down to sweep up the spilled beans. Greg offered his hand to the woman across the table as he spoke. "I'm Greg Sanders." She took his hand and shook it delicately as she replied. "I'm Faith Edwards. How's your head?" They both grinned as they recalled their shared clumsiness. "Well, it certainly woke me up, I can tell you!" Greg replied, finally taking in the details of the woman across the table from him. Shoulder length strawberry blonde hair, bright brown eyes, and a friendly smile. Not forgetting the small lump that was appearing on her forehead where their heads had collided. There was something special about Faith that Greg could not quite pinpoint, but he intended to find out.

* * *

Greg Sanders was easily the happiest CSI on the graveyard shift that night, his colleagues still weary from the extra hours they had all put in on the previous shift. The sense of exhaustion was almost palpable in the break room as Greg walked in, a grin touching the corners of his lips. "Yo G!" Hailed Nick Stokes as he registered Greg's presence in the room. "Hey man." Returned Greg. "How's things?"  
"Been better, I seem to spend most my life in this place at the moment man." Replied Nick, shaking his head as he poured himself a cup of coffee. "Anyway G, you look pretty pleased with yourself, what's going on with you?" Greg grinned widely before replying. "Nothing, nothing's going on with me."  
"So what's with the big smile man? You're grinning like a Cheshire cat!" Teased Nick. "I'm just happy," Greg replied, defensively. "There's nothing wrong with that!" Nick returned Greg's smile as he replied, "It's what you're happy about that worries me!"


	2. Chapter 2

Title: The Coffee Shop  
Pairing: Greg/OC  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: None of this is true. And I own none of the characters. Not one of them.

* * *

A week later Greg was back at Java Joe's. As he opened his car door in the car park a bright bolt of lightning flashed across the dull afternoon, and was shortly followed by a loud clap of thunder. Before Greg had chance to duck under the awning outside Java Joe's, the heavens opened and the rain began to lash down. Greg pulled his jacket tighter around him and dashed through the rapidly forming puddles and entered Java Joe's.

He walked towards the counter and shook himself s he spoke. "Hey Joe. What's with the weather? I just got…" he paused briefly as he recognised the woman stood at the counter talked to the waitress, Lola. "…soaked. Hey Faith, you in here again?!" He smiled as he spoke and a faint smile began to touch the corners of Faith's downcast mouth. "Yeah, I am. I come in every Friday after work; it's my little treat to myself." She replied. Joe butted into their conversation. "This girl, she need a treat today y'know, she have a rough day."

Greg grabbed their coffees from the counter and asked Joe for the two biggest slices of cake he had, before directing Faith towards the nearest table. "Come, sit, spill. What's been going on?" Faith was touched by Greg's concern and soon found herself opening up to him. "It's just been one of those days: I overslept, my car wouldn't start. Then I broke the heel on one of my new shoes and had to wear my trainers." She stuck her leg out from under the table to indicate to Greg a slightly battered pair of trainers.

"Then work was just awful and I got yelled at for no reason. And now? Well, now it's raining!" She smiled briefly at her own little joke before she continued. "Well, at least it's Friday now, it's the weekend, and I'm in my favourite place, with a gorgeous cup of coffee, some yummy looking cake, and a great listener." She indicated Greg with her fork before tucking into the large slab of carrot cake in front of her. Greg watched her eating and smiled, it was amazing what a good cup of coffee and a slice of cake could do for the soul.


	3. Chapter 3

Title: The Coffee Shop- part 3  
Pairing: Greg/OC  
Rating: K+!  
Disclaimer: None of this is true. And I own none of the characters. Not one of them.

* * *

Over the following four weeks, Greg and Faith made it an unspoken rule of theirs that they met up at Java Joe's after Faith finished work for their weekly coffee and cake meeting. Faith and Greg found it incredibly easy to talk to each other, and if it hadn't been for Greg's imminent shifts at work, the pair would probably have spent the whole night talking. They both found themselves really looking forward to their meetings, and began to pay especial care to their appearance each Friday afternoon. Greg had nearly missed one of their meetings as he had been assigned to work on a case for his supervisor Gil Grissom, but after much begging and pleading with one of his colleagues, he had been able to switch cases so that he was still able to meet Faith.

It was their fifth meeting and Greg was sat at what had now become their table. He began to anxiously look at his watch every few seconds, as if it would speed up time. Faith was late; she was always there before four o'clock. Greg began to worry that something had happened to her when she came blustering in through the door, trailing her long scarf behind her. "Hey Greg." She said, beginning to simultaneously unwind her scarf from around her neck and unbutton her coat. "I'm so sorry I'm late, I got caught up after work and couldn't get away. I'm here now though." She smiled as she flopped into her chair. "I'm just glad you're here." Replied Greg. "I was beginning to get worried." Faith smiled again and patted his hand. "It was really sweet of you to worry Greg, but I'm a big girl, honest." He placed his other hand on top of hers. "I know you are, I just, I just worry is all, I'd hate for anything to happen to you." Faith leant across the table and lightly kissed Greg's forehead, before gently cupping his cheek in her spare hand. "Thank you Greg, it's good to know someone's looking out for me." Greg blushed as their eyes met. "Anytime." He replied.

Joe chose that moment to bring over their coffee and cake. "Aw, look at you two together, so cute huh?" Both Faith and Greg blushed at this, and withdrew their hands away from cheeks and other hands, placing them firmly in their own laps. "Oh, what I say? You two not looking so cute now. Ah well, enjoy your cake." Joe patted both their heads before walking away. "Well, that wasn't completely uncomfortable and totally embarrassing was it Greg?" Grinned Faith sheepishly. Greg looked up at Faith from under his eyelids, as she began to eat her cake. "No, it was totally uncomfortable and completely embarrassing." Faith burst out laughing at this, spraying small crumbs of cake across the table whilst almost choking at the same time. "Say it don't spray it!" Joked Greg, causing more peals of laughter from Faith. "Stop it, you're killing me!" She muttered, wiping away tears of laughter from the corner of her eyes. Greg handed Faith a paper napkin to wipe her eyes with.

After she had recovered, the pair chatted aimlessly for a while, until it was time for Greg to leave for work. Greg walked Faith to her car, chatting about her non-existent plans for the weekend. They reached Faith's car & Greg felt his palms began to sweat as he finally made the decision to ask Faith something he had been thinking about for a while. Faith opened her car door and threw her handbag onto the passenger seat. "See you next week then Greg?" She asked, turning to face him. Greg began to nervously scratch the back of his head and stumbled over his words. "I…erm…erm…I… Faith?" "Greg?" she replied, desperately trying to maintain a straight face as Greg's nerves became more obvious. He didn't think he could do this, he should just say it's nothing and let her go, but something small in the back of his brain wasn't going to let him get away with not saying something this time. His words continued to stagger out of his mouth as he stared at the floor. " I, erm, I've got the night off tomorrow night and I was kinda wondering, if you weren't doing anything else and you wanted to, erm, maybe we could, erm, I dunno, maybe we could go out to dinner?"

Greg winced in anticipation of Faith's rejection, and after she didn't instantly reject him, he looked up at her from beneath his long dark eyelashes. Before Faith knew what she was doing, she flung her arms around Greg's neck and hugged him. "Of course I want to go out to dinner with you! I'd love to! What time are you picking me up? And where are we going so I know what to wear?" Greg's sigh of relief was clearly audible as he named a fancy restaurant he had heard his colleague Nick recommend, and promised to pick Faith up the following night. "See you tomorrow at seven then." Faith added before getting in her car and driving away with a gentle wave. Greg waited until she had turned the corner before a huge smile spread across his face and he punched the air with joy! She had said yes! He could not believe his luck!


	4. Chapter 4

Title: The Coffee Shop  
Pairing: Greg/OC  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: None of this is true. And I own none of the characters. Not one of them.

* * *

Greg was still smiling widely when he arrived at work half an hour later. "Hey Greggo." Greeted Nick Stokes, automatically pouring Greg a cup of coffee. "What's made you so happy then G? Your smile's wide enough to park my truck in!" The Texan was prone to teasing Greg, arguing that he was just so easy to tease and therefore an easy target. Greg was used to the teasing now, and took it in his stride.

Before Greg had chance to respond to the Texan's teasing, their supervisor Gil Grissom entered the break room. "Greg, I need to you to work tomorrow…" Greg did not wait to hear the rest of what Gil had to say before the words exploded from his mouth. "WHAT?! No, I can't, I have important plans for tomorrow night! I can't!" "I'm sorry Greg, you'll have to change them, I need you working." Grissom replied, ignoring the volume and ferocity in Greg's outburst, before turning on his heels and heading back to his office.

Nick walked over to where Greg was still staring at the spot where Grissom had been standing, and patted the younger man on the shoulder. "G, what's so important you can't change it man?" Greg sighed and hung his head. "I had a date, an important one, with this woman I've kinda been seeing. It's supposed to be our first date, I can't cancel on her, she won't want to see me. How can I get out of this Nick?" Greg sighed again as he turned to face Nick. "She's special huh?" Nick replied, noticing the defeated look on Greg's face. "She's just amazing!" Greg's face lit up as he began to talk about Faith. "She's smart, and funny, and she's so amazingly beautiful. And I can't just cancel on her!" "Ok," said Nick heading towards the door, "I'll talk to Grissom for you, see if I can't get him to change his mind, let you have the night off." And before Greg had chance to reply Nick had left the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: The Coffee Shop  
Pairing: Greg/OC  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: None of this is true. And I own none of the characters. Not one of them.

* * *

Faith anxiously waited in her living room for Greg to arrive, glancing at the clock regularly, time seemed to be passing by far too slowly. She began to impatiently tap her heel foot on the floor. At first she thought that Greg would cancel at the last minute, or just not turn up. She thought she knew him better than that, but there was a part of her brain full of niggling doubt. It was that uncertainty that meant she had not thought about what to wear for their meal until two o'clock that afternoon, where a frantic search through her wardrobe revealed nothing suitable to wear. In a blind panic she had rushed out to the nearest mall to find something she deemed acceptable.

Faith stood up and smoothed down her silky blue shirt dress. The shop assistant had gone for the hard sell with it, saying how it brought out the colour of her eyes. In her flustered state she had fallen for the sales patter and ended up spending far too much on it. But, she had to admit, she did look good in the dress, and it looked superb over her black trousers. She hugged her knees as she sat back down. The clock seemed to be ticking louder than ever, as if to indicate she was doomed to be alone.

If it reached 7:20 and he still hadn't arrived then that was it, she was changing into her pyjamas and breaking open the ice-cream.

7:05

7:10

7:15

Faith sighed as the clock began to tick its way towards 7:20. She had obviously been stood up and could not quite believe it. She began to unzip her boots as a solitary tear rolled out of her eye and down her cheek, landing silently on her dress.

She jumped out of the chair as the doorbell rang. Surely Greg did not have the cheek to turn up 20 minutes late for their date?

She opened the door and the first thing she saw was a huge bunch of flowers, which seemed to have a pair of legs. Greg's apologetic face peered round the edge of the bouquet. Faith didn't know whether to be angry with him, or give him a big hug for being so sweet! Instead she just stared at him, waiting for him to speak.

Greg lowered the flowers before words began to tumble out of his mouth. "I'm so sorry I'm late Faith. I didn't think I was gonna make it at all, my boss wanted me to work, and then Nick spoke to him, and he managed to persuade him to let me have the night off, and then traffic was bad, and I wanted to buy you some flowers, but I couldn't find a florist that was still open, so had to drive around a bit to find one. And when I did it was really busy and I had to wait. So I got the extra big bouquet for you and I'm sorry." Faith instantly knew she would forgive him, so stepped back in the doorway so he could come in. "Thanks Greg, they're beautiful, I'll just put them in water and we can go. I wish you'd have rung me to say you were late though, I was beginning to think you weren't coming." Greg scratched the back of his head nervously. "I did think of that, until I realised I didn't have your number!" "Well," Faith replied "We'll just have to make sure we swap numbers later so it doesn't happen again." At the word 'again' a wide smile spread across Greg's face. Faith linked her arm through Greg's. "C'mon then Greg, I'm starving, let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

Title: The Coffee Shop

Pairing: Greg/OC  
Rating: K+, one use of bad language  
Disclaimer: None of this is true. And I own none of the characters. Not one of them

A/N: this is as far as I got with this one. If you'd like to read some more please R&R and I'll see what I can come up with!

* * *

Faith and Greg's evening whizzed by in a blur. He had already bought her a huge bouquet of flowers to compensate for his delay, and he also took her to an expensive hotel restaurant on the strip. "Order anything you like," he had said "It's my special treat to you." Faith would have felt far too guilty ordering something too expensive, so looked for meals mid-price range, and settled on an exotic sounding chicken dish.

The conversation flowed freely between the two, as usual, starting with an exchange about work. Faith told Greg why she had become a kindergarten teacher, and discussed some of the comical antics her students had committed, and some of the amusing things they said. Greg sat thinking about what an amazing woman she must be to be able to cope with a class full of screaming kindergarteners, and still come home feeling sane at the end of the day. She clearly adored the children in her care, and they clearly adored her from the stories she had told. Greg had never seen himself as being someone who would have children, but something about the way Faith spoke about her work stirred in him some paternal feelings. He cursed himself inwardly, he was thinking about Faith having his children! He must be going crazy!

They soon moved on to discussing Greg's work, and he told her about his work as a lab technician before he became a CSI. "So you were a lab rat then?!" She teased gently. "I was indeed," he replied, smiling. "Until the lab got blown up, with me in it!" Greg smiled cheekily as the shock registered on Faith's face. "Wha, how? Were you ok?" She questioned, unsure why he was smiling so much. "I was fine," he replied. "I just had a few minor injuries. The lab came off worse than me. Honest." Faith still did not look convinced, so Greg picked up her hand, which had been sat beside her glass, and held it tightly. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been so…blasé about it all. It happened three years ago, it was ages ago. I'm sorry." Faith still looked unsure of what Greg was saying to her. "Shit!" He thought, "I've completely blown it." The uncomfortable look on Faith's face eased a little. "I'm glad you were ok Greg, it's just not really something you should joke about." She frowned at him, the smile slipping from his face. Greg grabbed Faith's other hand, and held both of them in his. "Faith, I'm really sorry. It was just stupid of me to joke about it. Can we start over huh? How about we have a nice dessert and a coffee huh?" Faith looked into his pleading brown eyes and knew she would instantly forgive him, his eyes were just all 'cute lil puppy dog', and she had always been a sucker for anything cute.

Their conversation afterwards was stilted at first, but Greg soon broke the ice when he missed his mouth eating his dessert and smeared cream and raspberry sauce across his nose. Both Greg and Faith could not stop laughing afterwards, tears of joy rolling down both their cheeks, as all the tables near them turned to stare at the couple. Every time they thought they had calmed down, one only had to catch the eye of the other and the laughter started again. They eventually calmed down enough to finish their desserts, and Greg quickly paid the bill to avoid being thrown out for being too lively.

Greg and Faith walked back to Greg's car arm in arm, any awkwardness completely vanquished by their giggles. All too quickly they arrived back at Faith's apartment. Greg, ever the gentleman, walked her to her front door. "Thanks for a great night Greg. And the laughter! I haven't laughed that much in a long time!" "Anytime," Greg replied, inching closer to her. "I had a great time too; we definitely have to do it again soon. Real soon." Greg delicately tucked a loose strand of hair behind Faith's ear and kissed her gently on the lips. "I'll call you tomorrow." He added as he walked away, leaving Faith slightly shell shocked on her door-step.


End file.
